1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for processing a color image, and an image processing method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
The following image reproduction function has recently been proposed in a digital copying machine, an image scanner, a facsimile apparatus, and the like. First the color information of an original is converted into color signals by a photoelectric conversion element such as a color CCD or the like. Areas which are determined, on the basis of these color signals, to have the same color are replaced with a predetermined pattern such as a dot, horizontal line, or wavy line pattern corresponding to the color. This pattern is then reproduced in a single color to reproduce a monochrome image, thereby realizing a visual effect similar to that obtained by reproducing a color image.
In patterning color data, however, since color boundaries for patterning are fixed, the following problem is posed. If a portion of an image on an original has a color close to a boundary, the image is converted into two patterns because of the gradation of the color of the image, resulting in a poor processing result.